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How to write a best Research Paper

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What is Scientific Writing <ul><li>The purpose of scientific writing is to </li></ul><ul><li>communicate new scientific findings. </li></ul><ul><li>It should be clear, simple & well </li></ul><ul><li>ordered communication to transmit </li></ul><ul><li>new scientific findings </li></ul><ul><li>Scientific writing must use proper English </li></ul><ul><li>which gives the sense in the fewest short </li></ul><ul><li>words </li></ul>

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What is a scientific paper A scientific paper is a written and published report describing original research results. It must be a publication of original research results in a journal or other source document readily available within the scientific community

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<ul><li>A scientific paper is a written & published report describing original research results. </li></ul><ul><li>A scientific experiment is not complete until the results have been published and understood . </li></ul><ul><li>The Purpose of research is not well served unless the findings or problems you solved are known to others. </li></ul>Significance of Scientific Writing

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Origins of Scientific Writing <ul><li>Knowledge is lost without written records </li></ul><ul><li>Cave paintings & inscriptions were the first attempts to </li></ul><ul><li>leave records </li></ul><ul><li>About 2000 BC, Tree Leaf was used as a medium of </li></ul><ul><li>communication </li></ul><ul><li>In 190 BC, parchment made from animal skin came into </li></ul><ul><li>use </li></ul><ul><li>In 105 AD, the Chinese invented paper </li></ul><ul><li>Knowledge could not be widely circulated with no </li></ul><ul><li>effective duplication </li></ul><ul><li>In 1100 AD, the Chinese invented printing press </li></ul><ul><li>In 1455 AD, Gutenberg printed his 42-line Bible from </li></ul><ul><li>movable type on a printing press </li></ul><ul><li>By the year 1500 thousands of copies of hundreds of </li></ul><ul><li>books (called “incunabula”) were printed </li></ul><ul><li>In 1665, the first scientific journals were published </li></ul>

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Before Starting to Write the Paper <ul><li>Logical analysis of subject-matter </li></ul><ul><li>Give dates to the files and folders </li></ul><ul><li>Give different names to files </li></ul><ul><li>Review your results </li></ul><ul><li>Prepare a rough draft or report </li></ul><ul><li>Delete an unwanted material </li></ul><ul><li>Make tables, draw graphs </li></ul><ul><li>Review again </li></ul><ul><li>Finalize the bibliography </li></ul><ul><li>Write the final report and present as paper </li></ul>

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Essential Parts of a Scientific paper <ul><li>Title : Describe concisely the core contents of the paper </li></ul><ul><li>Abstract : Summarize the major elements of the paper </li></ul><ul><li>Introduction : provide context & rationale for the study </li></ul><ul><li>Materials : Describe the experimental design so it is </li></ul><ul><li>reproducible </li></ul><ul><li>Methods : Describe the experimental procedures </li></ul><ul><li>Results : Summarize the findings without interpretation </li></ul><ul><li>Discussion : Interpret the findings of the study </li></ul><ul><li>Summary : Summarize the findings </li></ul><ul><li>Acknowledgement : Give credit to those who helped </li></ul><ul><li>you </li></ul><ul><li>References : List all scientific papers, books and </li></ul><ul><li>websites that you cited </li></ul>

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IMRAD Story (Introduction, Methods, Results and Discussion) <ul><li>Early journals published descriptive papers (still used in case reports, geological surveys etc.) </li></ul><ul><li>By the second half of the 19 th century, reproducibility of experiments became a fundamental principle of the philosophy of science. </li></ul><ul><li>The methods section became all important since Louis Pasteur confirmed the germ theory of disease </li></ul><ul><li>IMRAD organization of a scientific paper started to develop </li></ul><ul><li>IMRAD format slowly progressed in the latter half of the 19 th century </li></ul>

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Organization of a scientific paper <ul><li>The most common is the IMRAD </li></ul><ul><li>If a number of methods were used to </li></ul><ul><li>achieve directly related results: </li></ul><ul><li>M + R = Experimental section </li></ul><ul><li>The results are so complex that they </li></ul><ul><li>need to be immediately discussed: </li></ul><ul><li>R + D = Results and Discussion section </li></ul>

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Some important Language points: <ul><li>Poor experimentation cannot be masked by brilliant writing; however, poor writing can mask brilliant experimentation </li></ul><ul><li>Avoid complex sentence structure </li></ul><ul><li>Use simple and clear English </li></ul><ul><li>Always keep in mind that the paragraph is the essential unit of thought </li></ul>

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The Title <ul><li>A good title is defined as the fewest possible words </li></ul><ul><li>that adequately describe the contents of the paper. </li></ul><ul><li>The title is extremely important and must be chosen </li></ul><ul><li>with great care as it will be read by thousands, </li></ul><ul><li>whereas few will read the entire paper </li></ul><ul><li>Indexing and abstracting of the paper depends on the </li></ul><ul><li>accuracy of the title. An improperly titled paper will </li></ul><ul><li>get lost and will never be read. </li></ul>

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<ul><li>Titles should neither be too short nor too long as to be meaningless </li></ul><ul><li>Waste words (studies on, investigations on, a, an, the etc) should not be used. </li></ul><ul><li>Syntax (word order) must be very carefully considered </li></ul><ul><li>It should contain the keywords that reflect the contents of the paper. </li></ul><ul><li>It should be meaningful and not general </li></ul><ul><li>It should be concise, specific and informative </li></ul><ul><li>It should capture the fundamental nature of the experiments and findings </li></ul>

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How to Prepare the Title <ul><li>Make a list of the most important keywords </li></ul><ul><li>Think of a title that contains these words </li></ul><ul><li>The title could state the conclusion of the paper </li></ul><ul><li>The title Never contains abbreviations </li></ul><ul><li>Think, rethink of the title before submitting the paper </li></ul><ul><li>Be very careful of the grammatical errors due to faulty word order </li></ul><ul><li>Avoid the use of the word “using” </li></ul>

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The Abstract <ul><li>An abstract can be defined as a summary of the information in a document </li></ul><ul><li>It is of fundamental importance that the abstract be written clearly and simply, as it is the first and sometimes the only part of the manuscript read. </li></ul><ul><li>It should provide a brief summary of each of the main sections (IMRAD) of the paper: </li></ul><ul><li>State the principal objective and scope of the investigation </li></ul><ul><li>Describe the methods used </li></ul><ul><li>Summarize the results, and </li></ul><ul><li>State the principal conclusions </li></ul><ul><li>It is easier to write the abstract after completion of the paper </li></ul>

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Criteria of the Abstract <ul><li>It should not exceed 250 words </li></ul><ul><li>It should be written in one paragraph. </li></ul><ul><li>It should be written in the past tense as it refers to work done. </li></ul><ul><li>Long words should be followed by its abbreviation which would be used through out the abstract and paper. </li></ul><ul><li>It should not cite any references (except in rare cases) </li></ul><ul><li>It should never give any information or conclusion that is not stated in the paper </li></ul><ul><li>Must be accurate with respect to figures quoted in the main text. </li></ul>

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The Introduction <ul><li>It should present the nature, details and scope of the problem investigated </li></ul><ul><li>Review the pertinent literature </li></ul><ul><li>State the method of investigation </li></ul><ul><li>State the principal results of the investigation </li></ul><ul><li>State the principal conclusion suggested by the results </li></ul>

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Materials <ul><li>Must identify accurately experimental animals, plants, and microorganisms used by genus, species and strain </li></ul><ul><li>The source of subjects studied, number of individuals in each group used, their sex, age, and weight must be clearly stated </li></ul><ul><li>If human subjects are used, the criteria for selection should be described, and consent </li></ul><ul><li>For chemicals used, include exact technical specifications and source or method of preparation. </li></ul><ul><li>Avoid the use of trade names of chemicals, generic or chemical names are preferred. </li></ul>

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Methods <ul><li>If the method is new, all details must be provided </li></ul><ul><li>If the method has been previously published in a </li></ul><ul><li>scientific journal, only the reference should be </li></ul><ul><li>given with some identification. </li></ul>

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Results <ul><li>Results section is written in the past tense </li></ul><ul><li>It is the core or heart of the paper </li></ul><ul><li>It needs to be clearly and simply stated since it </li></ul><ul><li>constitutes the new knowledge contributed to the </li></ul><ul><li>world </li></ul>

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Tables and figures <ul><li>Tables are appropriate for large or complicated data sets that would be difficult to explain clearly in text. </li></ul><ul><li>Figures are appropriate for data sets that exhibit trends, patterns, or relationships that are best conveyed visually. </li></ul><ul><li>Any table or figure must be sufficiently described by its title and caption or legend, to be understandable without reading the main text of the results section. </li></ul><ul><li>Do not include both a table and a figure showing the same information </li></ul>

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References <ul><li>Any papers not cited in the text should not be included. </li></ul><ul><li>Reference lists allow readers to investigate the subject in </li></ul><ul><li>greater depth. </li></ul><ul><li>A reference list contains only the books, articles, and </li></ul><ul><li>web pages etc that are cited in the text of the </li></ul><ul><li>document. While a bibliography includes all sources </li></ul><ul><li>consulted for background or further reading. </li></ul>